John range



-UNITED sTATEs PATENT oEEroE.

JOHN RANGE, OF MERIDEN, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO J. AND E. PARKER, OE SAME l PLACE.

THUlVIB-LATCH. Y

Speccaton of Letters Patent No. 32,339, dated May 14, 1861.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN RANGE, of Meriden, in the county of New Haven and State of Connecticut, have invented a new and Improved Thumb-Latch for Doors; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the annexed drawings, making a part of this specification, in which- Figure l, is a face view of my invention applied to a door; Fig. 2, a section of the same, taken in the line m, Fig. 1; Fig. 3, a detached sectional face view of a portion of the latch; Fig. 4, a. horizontal section of Fig. 3.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several figures.

The object of this invention is to obtain a simple and economical thumb latch which may be applied to either a right or left hand door and be capable of being locked or buttoned at the side of the door on which the slide bolt of the latch is placed.

The invention consists in the employment or use of a slide bolt provided with a doublebeveled surface against which the thumbpiece of the latch acts, said bolt being tted to a suitable frame or plate and .provided with a spring and button, all being arranged as hereinafter shown and described, to effect the desired end. i

To enable those skilled in the art to fully understand and construct my invention, I will proceed to describe it.

-A, represents a metal frameor plate which is provided with two guides a, a, in which the ends a', a, of a slide bolt B, are fitted and allowed to work freely back and forth. The central part of the bolt B, is of bowshape, as shown clearly in Fig. 1, and one side is provided `with a double-beveled surface b, b', as shown clearly in Fig. l. The end a', of the slide bolt works into a nosing C, attached to the jamb or stile c, of the door frame, and said end, when the bolt is not otherwise acted upon, is kept in the nosing C, by a spiral spring cl, which is tted in a recess e, in the inner side of the end a, of the bolt and in the frame or plate A, see Figs.-3 and 4.

D, represents a thumb-piece which is of the usual forni and fitted in the door E, in the same way as in ordina-ry latches, see Fig. 2. The usual hand-piece F, is also attached to door E.

The curved end f, of the thumb-piece D, is in contact with the lower beveled surface b, of the bolt as shown in Fig. l.

To the frame or plate A, there is attached a button G. -This button is fitted within the central bow-shaped part of the bolt B, the front part of which is provided with a small projection g, as shown in Fig. l.

From the above description it will be seen that when the thumb-piece D, is actuated, its curved end f, will "act against the inclined surface b, and throw back the bolt B, so that its end a', will be free from the nosing C,'andmadmit of the door being opened, and when it is desired to lock the door, the button G, is so turned that its end will rest on the projection g, as shown in red, Fig. l, and prevent the bolt being thrown back.

This latch may be applied to either a right or left-hand door as the plate and bolt may be inverted and will operate precisely in the same way in either position, the beveled surfaces Z), b, being precisely the same, and the button G, capable of being turned so as to lit properly in the central bow-shaped part of the bolt in either position in which it may be placed.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent; is, y,

The slide bolt B, attached to a frame or plate A, and provided with a spring (Z, and the central bow-shaped part having double beveled surfaces Z), b; in connection with the thumb-piece D, and with or without the button Gr, as and for the purpose set forth.

A JOHN RANGE.

IVitnesses:

D. R. WRIGHT, WALTER B. TIBBALS. 

